No, there's not. Everybody in this day and age should know and expect that any electronic device or really anything with a display screen or highly polished surface (from car stereos to home appliances to phones to mp3 players) will have a protective film on it that needs to be peeled off prior to use.

Manufacturers have only been applying these for oh, I don't know, maybe the last 40 years or so.

Thank you! Were it not for your post I'd still be hanging out in denser world.

It's a shame that SanDisk doesn't insert an addendum to their instructions, or, now that they know it causes confusion, to at least place a red dot over the protecive strip. Goodness know how many hours they waste of their customers time.

Another bit of help would be for them to include your instruction at the top on the Retail Support > Ask a question > Submit question FAQ list so as to save others the time of composing a help ticket.

well, if it was stupid, then at least know you are not alone there - I figured it should come off, but a) they should have commented on this in the instructions and b) it did not come off easily at all - which is why I did a search on this internet and found your comment.